09TBILISI559, GEORGIA: BURJANADZE SUPPORTERS ARRESTED ON WEAPONS

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000559
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2018
TAGS: PGOVPHUMPRELGG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: BURJANADZE SUPPORTERS ARRESTED ON WEAPONS
CHARGES
REF: A. TBILISI 502
¶B. TBILISI 378
¶C. TBILISI 089
TBILISI 00000559 001.2 OF 002
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D).
¶1. (C) Summary/Comment: At roughly 5am on March 23, a
number (roughly six to eight but exact numbers are still
unclear) of Nino Burjanadze's supporters were arrested on
charges of buying automatic weapons. Burjanadze called the
Ambassador to register her outrage and to express concern
that she was being targeted by the Government. The
Ambassador contacted Foreign Minister Vashadze, Deputy FM
Bokeria and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA) Head of the
Analyitical Department Shota Utiashvili to ask about the
reports. Utiashvili told the Ambassador that the MOIA had
incontrovertible evidence that Burjanadze supporters were
purchasing illegal arms, namely automatic weapons.
Utiashvili said that a press conference would be held at 6pm
local time to present its version of events and to present
the evidence; Utiashvili confirmed that Burjanadze herself is
not a target of an investigation. Burjanadze has contacted
Ombudsman Subari with a request for help, and he has
scheduled a 5 pm press conference. Post believes it is too
early to draw any larger conclusions regarding the arrests,
but will continue to follow events. End Summary/Comment.
Burjanadze Alleges Arrests Aimed at Her
¶2. (C) An extremely agitated Nino Burjanadze called the
Ambassador to express her outrage at the arrest of her
supporters on weapons charges. She maintained that those who
had been arrested had nothing to do with guns. Burjanadze
stated that she had feared such an event based on the GOG's
public campaign to discredit her by saying that she was
planning violence at the April 9 protest rally. She further
stated that she would be calling others in the international
community to express her outrage. Burjanadze said her
husband's driver had also been arrested on charges of having
an automatic weapon at his home. She told the Ambassador
that she feared she would be arrested and her house would be
searched. She said that if the police came, she would resist
and call on the international community to send
representatives to her home.
Government Says Illegal Weapons Purchased
¶3. (C) After Burjanadze's call, the Ambassador contacted
Foreign Minister Vashadze, Deputy Foreign Minister Giga
Bokeria and MOIA Spokesman Shota Utiashvili to ask about the
reports. Utiashvili confirmed to the Ambassador that 6-8
people were arrested for trying to purchase Kalashnikov
machine guns (or other automatic weapons) on the Georgian
arms market. He said that the Ministry monitors the market
carefully and filmed the individuals purchasing automatic
weapons. Of those detained, four are members of Burjanadze's
youth wing in Ajara and two are former members of the
Georgian Border Guards who were dismissed when Badri Bitsadze
(Burjanadze's husband and former head of the border guards)
was dismissed. (Embassy Note: One of the former border
guards was apparently the head of special operations while
the other headed the Sedalko border crossing point. End
Note.). There are two others who are being investigated, who
may have no connection to Burjanadze.
¶4. (C) Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and Deputy Foreign
Minister Giga Bokeria confirmed the arrests to the
Ambassador. Bokeria told the Ambassador that the government
could not ignore this attempt to purchase illegal weapons and
that these were "not just Georgians buying hunting rifles."
No government could sit by and permit this to happen.
QNo government could sit by and permit this to happen.
Utiashvili said that there were no senior members of
Burjanadze's party arrested and added that there was "no
intention of arresting Burjanadze".
Dueling Press Conferences
¶5. (C) Burjanadze held a press conference mid-day in
Tbilisi to announce that members of the Ajara branch of her
party were detained, including the head of the Batumi office.
Burjanadze told the press that they have been detained on
charges of illegal storage of arms, but neither lawyers nor
neighbors were allowed to observe the process of searching
their homes and businesses for the weapons. She alleged that
the Government might widen the search to include her Tbilisi
party headquarters and her own home. At the press
conference, Burjanadze's husband Badri Bitsadze told
journalists that the Minister of Internal Affairs Vano
Merabishvili "informed me this morning that the President
demands my detainment. He advised me to leave Georgia for a
month but I am not going anywhere."
TBILISI 00000559 002.2 OF 002
¶6. (C) Burjanadze's assistant Thea Gogvadze-Apfel told
Poloff that Burjanadze had scheduled a meeting with Ombudsman
Sozar Subari and opposition leaders to discuss the arrests.
Later, her office called and informed the mission th
at Subari
would hold a 5 pm Tbilisi time press conference to comment on
the arrests. Subari's press conference will be followed by
the MOIA's press conference at 6 pm during which the
Government is expected to provide further details about the
arrests and the evidence.
TEFFT

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